This morning for our Bible study,
I would encourage you to turn to Isaiah chapter 45. Isaiah
chapter 45, and I'll begin reading at verse 20. Isaiah 45, verse
20. Assemble yourselves and come.
Draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nation. They have
no knowledge that set up wood of their graven image. And pray
unto a God that cannot save, tell ye, bring them near, yea,
let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? There is no God else beside me?"
Now that's a very significant phrase here in the book of Isaiah.
God repeats this phrase at least six or seven times. There is
no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me. Verse
22, Isaiah 45, look unto me. And be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn
by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness,
and shall not return. That unto me every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say in the Lord,
have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come, and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified. That is all God's
elect, all who believe the gospel, shall be justified to the glory
of God. Now there is one thing made absolutely
clear when you read this chapter. There is but one true, almighty,
eternal, absolute, sovereign, holy God. And he's the God of
Scripture, the God of Scripture. Several times in this chapter,
we read, surely God is in thee, there is none else, there is
no God beside me. It's repeated over and over again. In Isaiah 45 again, verse 5,
I am the Lord, there is none else, there is no God beside
thee. Now, it's absolutely clear. There's
just one eternal, almighty God in whom salvation is found. Now, what's this God of Scripture
like? Well, we're not left in the dark
on this point. There are at least two significant
things revealed in this chapter about the character of God. Did
you catch this phrase in verse 21? And this is a significant
phrase, and I would encourage you to underline it, and listen
carefully. God said when he said, there
is none beside me, and then he described his character as a
just God and Savior. A just God and Savior. God is just. That means he is
holy. He is righteous. He's sovereign
in all his word, all his ways, and all his work. One old patriarch
in scripture said, shall not the God of all the earth do right? And my friend, he will. Whatever
God does is right because he's a just God. But there's another
part of his character revealed. God is just and holy and righteous
and sovereign. But also we read here he's a
just God and Savior, a just God and a Savior. The same God who
was just, our God, the God of Scripture, also reveals himself
as merciful, gracious, long-suffering to the salvation of God's elect. You listen to this description
in Exodus chapter 34. It says, the Lord descended in
a cloud and stood with him there, that is, with Moses, and proclaimed
the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious,
long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no mean clear the guilty There it is again, he's
a just God and he's a savior. Now this is demonstrated all
through scripture. Adam sinned against God, violated
the command of God. Adam sinned, plunged us all into
total depravity and ruin. Adam sinned and was punished.
Why? God is just, he's holy. But wait
a minute, we also revealed in Genesis chapter 3, God gave his
promise of salvation. You remember he said the seed
of the woman would crush the serpent's head? That's the Savior,
that's the promise of the Messiah coming. You see, he is a just
God, but he is a Savior, God our Savior. The world, here's
another example of the demonstration of God's holiness and God's mercy,
his justice and his righteousness. The world was flooded in Noah's
day. You remember what God said about
all men? He saw that the imagination,
every thought of the heart was only wicked continually. And
it grieved him, God holy. The world was flooded. The world
was destroyed. Why? God is holy. God is just. But we also read in scripture
that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And yonder
on the flood of God's wrath, we see the ark and Noah's family
spared. A just God and a Savior. It's all through Scripture. I'll
give you another example of that. God destroyed Sodom because of
the perversion and the wickedness that reigned in that city. God
is just. God will punish sin. But we also
read that God spared a lot. God delivered a lot. He's a just
God and a Savior. Give you another example. The
law was given on Mount Sinai. The law that demanded holiness.
The law that declares the very character of God. God said, I
must punish sin because I'm holy. And the law was given to reveal
our transgression, to expose our iniquity. God is holy. But
yonder in that law, there's a mercy seat. And God instructed a priest
on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle the blood on that broken law
over the mercy seat, over that Ark of the Covenant. God said,
I'll meet with you there upon the blood covenant, the blood
mercy seat, the propitiation. He is a just God and a Savior. Perhaps the greatest demonstration
of this character of God, that He is a just God and Savior,
is viewed at Calvary. At Calvary we see that God is
just. God must punish sin. And when God imputed and laid
on Christ the iniquity, the sin of God's sheep, God's elect,
God's people, the wrath of God reigned upon Him without any
mixture of mercy. but yet by this sacrifice. God
justified His people by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, He's a just God and a Savior. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Now, there's absolutely no other
way for a holy God to save guilty sinners but by Jesus Christ. Some say the book of Job is the
oldest book in the Bible. Well, if that's true, this is
the oldest and most important question that any man can consider. And Job said this, or one of
the friends of Job said this in Job 25, how can man be justified
with God? How can he be clean? that's born
of a woman. How can he be a just God and
a Savior? There's just one way, my friend.
That's in Christ, through the sacrifice of Christ. The Apostle
Paul answers that question for us in Romans chapter 3. Romans
chapter 3, beginning at verse 24, he said, Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God set forth In picture, in promise, and in time,
in the fullness of time, God set forth His Son to be the mercy
seat, the sacrifice, the propitiation, through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. Now listen, verse 26,
Romans 3, to declare, I say it this time, His righteousness.
God is just. God must punish sin, that He
might be just and the justifier of them, of him which believeth
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, salvation is received
by believing. not by doing. Now back to Isaiah
45 and listen to verse 22. Our God describes himself as
there's none like me, there's none beside me, I'm a just God
and a Savior, there is none like me and then he says look. Look,
look, not to your works, not to your deeds, not to your experience,
not to your baptism, not to your ceremony, not to your traditions
of men. He said, look unto me, look unto
me and be saved. All the ends of the earth, I
am God, the only savior of sinners. He's God our Savior. I am God,
God our Savior, and there is none, none else. Now, let me give you these questions. Where are we to look? Where are
we to look? As guilty, helpless sinners,
where are we to look? Well, it's plain. Our Lord said,
come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you
rest. Look to Him, look to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look to Him as our Almighty Savior,
able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.
Look to Him as the only mediator, substitute, sacrifice provided
by God Almighty. There's one God and one mediator
between God and man, that is the man, Christ Jesus. Look to
Him as the only object of faith. Saving faith looks to Christ.
The apostle put it this way, I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Look to him as the object of
faith. The writer of Hebrew says, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Look unto him as
the only and all-sufficient sacrifice, the only and all-sufficient righteousness
before God. Look to him as our exalted redeemer. seated on the throne, having
accomplished salvation when he had by himself purged our sin,
he sat down at the right hand of God and looked to him alone. Alone. Where are we to look?
To him. Alone. Not to anything else. Our works, not even to our faith,
not even to our look. Not to our church, not to our
pastor, not to mom and dad. He said, look to me. This is
the command of God. Look unto me. You see, my friend,
as I've been trying to tell you these years, on this radio program,
salvation's in a person. In a person. He didn't say go
to the church. Salvation's not in a church.
If you're trusting your church, you're lost. Salvation's in a
person, in the Lord Jesus Christ. What part in salvation should
we look to Him for? Every part. Christ is all and
in all. In the Revelation, he describes
himself as the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning, the Ending, the
First and the Last. He's saying I'm everything in
salvation. From election to justification
to glorification, salvation is of the Lord. It's his doing.
This is the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. Salvation's
all of God and all in him. He's the only just God and Savior. Now, what's our encouragement
to look to Him? Well, it's His command. It's His command. He said, look unto Me. And that
word can also, that word look also means turn to Him. Trust
Him. Believe Him. He said in Isaiah
55, Oh, everyone that's thirsty, come to the waters. Come to Me. He that hath no money, come,
buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Look to him. It's his command. It's his command. What's the
result of this looking to the Lord Jesus Christ? He said, look
unto me, and here's the result. Be ye saved, be ye saved, justified
in the blood and righteousness of Christ. That Philippian jailer
asked the Apostle Paul, what must I do to be saved? He didn't
give him anything to do. He said, look, look. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And my friend,
this is a gift of God, sovereignly given, and this is a work of
God in your heart. And the result of that is looking
to him. Believe Christ and be saved. Now, let me give you this. Who
may look? Who may look to Christ and be
saved? Well, it says in this verse here, all the ends of the
earth. Our Lord instructed His church
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Who may look? Those who are in
need look. You hungry? He's the bread. You
thirsty? He's the water. You dead in sin? Are you dead in sin? He's life.
He's life. You need salvation, pardon, forgiveness? It's in Him. Look to Him. Look
out of your need and look away from yourself and look to Him
and be saved, be justified in Him. Now, let me give you this. When should we look to Him? Always,
at all times. When in the dark, He's the light. When we're weak, He's our strength. When we're hungry, He's our food. He said, I'm the bread of life.
When in sorrow, He's our joy. We rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. When in trouble, He's our comfort. He's our strength in the very
time of trouble. When in death, He's our life. Look unto me, a just God and
Savior. There is none beside me. He said
there's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. Salvation is in Christ. Pray
to God for grace to help in your time of need, and may God grant
you faith to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, exalted.